Women

Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. ~Mary Wollstonecraft

Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, a good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-dressed, well-groomed, and unaggressive. ~Marya Mannes

Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness. ~Erica Jong

Women are not the weak, frail little flowers that they are advertised. There has never been anything invented yet, including war, that a man would enter into, that a woman wouldn't, too. ~Will Rogers

I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman. ~Anaïs Nin

Butterfly

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. ~Chuang Tzu

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. ~Rabindranath Tagore

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. ~Maya Angelou

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Girl's Day!

March 3rd is Japanese Girl's Day called hina-matsuri (Japanese doll festival.) It's a celebration for Japanese girls, and Japanese Boy's Day is May 5th in Japan. People display a set of hina dolls and props in the house, wishing girls' healthy growth and happiness. Parents or grand parents of a newborn girl buy a set of gorgeous hina dolls unless they have special dolls, which are inherited from generation to generation.

Hina dolls are dressed in Japanese ancient costumes and are displayed on the shelves of a stand covered with a red carpet from the end of February to March 3rd. It is believed that any hina doll display should be taken down soon after the festival day; otherwise girls might have to wait to get married.

Hina-matsuri is also called momo-no-sekku, which means a festival of peach blossoms. Peach blossoms, shiro-zake (white rice wine), and hishi-mochi (diamond shaped rice cakes) are placed on the stand with hina dolls. Hishi-mochi are colored in pink (implies peach flowers), white (implies snow), and green (implies new growth).

The origin of hina-matsuri is said to be an ancient Chinese ceremony that people let paper dolls flow on a river to get rid of bad luck from their bodies. This practice was combined with girls' doll play and was established as hina-matsuri during Edo period (1603-1867) in Japan.

Traditionally, girls in Japan invited their friends to a home party and had a good time. Many people still prepare a special meal for girls on this day.

It might be fun to plan a Japanese Girl's Day party for your kids.

Learning the way

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.
You only lose what you cling to.

Fill your mind with compassion.

We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.

The Four Reliances
First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words;
Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher;
Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation;
And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

Pay no attention to the faults of others,
things done or left undone by others.

Consider only what by oneself is done or left undone.

What we think, we become.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others.
He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

On life's journey Faith is nourishment,
Virtuous deeds are a shelter,
Wisdom is the light by day and Right mindfulness is the protection by night.

If a man lives a pure life nothing can destroy him;
If he has conquered greed nothing can limit his freedom.

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"
"No", answered Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No", Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself
But if your love and must needs have desires,
Let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook
That sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
And give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer
For the beloved in your heart
And a song of praise upon your lips.

~ by Gibran Kahlil Gibran ~

Children make you want to start life over. ~Muhammad Ali